One of the challenges of automating mortar weapons is the design of a system that handles and protects the ammunition. The standard mortar round is typically difficult to restrain securely within a magazine or ammunition feeding mechanism of an automated weapon. The round must be protected from gunfire shock, adverse weather conditions and transportation loads, while remaining ready to be fired without any user handling or intervention.
In addition, the mortar round includes delicate features, such as the aluminum fins and propellant charge increments, which must be protected from damage resulting from handling and transportation. To further exacerbate the concerns associated with traditional automated weapons, the ogive geometric shape and design of the mortar round does not provide a useful feature for securing the mortar within the ammunition feeding mechanism.
Previous methods of mortar round retention for automatic or semi-automatic weapons included storing the ammunition in a sealed container, clamping the round tightly with a friction hold or by interfacing with the tapered section of the mortar body. Storing the ammunition in a sealed container requires user handling before firing. The use of a retention device against the tapered section of the mortar body is prone to wedging and jamming. Maintaining sufficient friction to retain the round when subjected to transportation and firing loads has proven to be relatively difficult. Furthermore, the force applied to the round decreases over time and with repeated firing loads, with the springs taking a permanent set.
While these conventional methods provided a certain level of protection to the ammunition, there still remains a need for a more efficient retention system that secures and protects the ammunition within the feeding mechanism of an automated weapon.